Long Road to Ruin
by webofdreams89
Summary: After a brutal fight that leaves Soul badly injured, meister and weapon must find a way to rebuild together. Soul/Maka.
1. Prologue

Long Road to Ruin  
Prologue

Summary: After a brutal fight that leaves Soul badly injured, meister and weapon must find a way to rebuild together. Soul/Maka  
Rated: M  
A/N: This takes places sometime after the anime series. I read some of the manga several years ago, but don't really remember any of it so, while reading this story, please only take the Soul Eater anime into account. I have the first few chapters written so far and am currently writing chapter 3. They aren't edited yet, but it shouldn't be long before they are. I hope to have one posted at least once a week. Don't have internet at my house so it depends on when I can get to the library. I'm not sure yet just how long the story is going to be, but I have a tentative outline set written out so we shall see.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

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The battle had been a grueling one against, fought one of history's nefarious baddies, Elizabeth Bathory. For centuries, she'd been snatching young girls to bath in their blood under the notion that it would keep her young and beautiful forever. And, ultimately, it had.

Whenever someone was close to catching her, she always managed to escape. But signs began cropping up in a small village in Argentina and, because everyone else was already deployed on missions elsewhere, it was left to Soul and Maka to try to stop her if they could before she could kill another girl. It was a risk, especially since Maka fit Elizabeth's penchant for young beautiful virgins. If they couldn't take her down, it was likely Maka would become the next victim.

Maka was adamant, however, and refused to stand by while anyone else was hurt. Soul tried to talk her out of it, telling her it would be better for an all-male pair to take down the Countess. As always, though, Maka got her way, telling Soul how important it was that they stop her as soon as possible. Like always, Soul gave in but he was damned if he was going to let anything happen to Maka while he was still breathing.

At first, it seemed like the fight was going in their favor, that maybe Elizabeth was good at running and hiding, but not so good at fighting. Somehow in the process, they let their guards drop. And that's when Elizabeth struck.

With blinding speed, she descended upon the pair, separating weapon from meister. Soul ended up nearly sixty feet away, crashing into an old stone building. The shock of the impact jarred him back into his human form. He was dazed when his eyes fluttered open, the rain falling around him, shimmering black and blue every time he blinked. He was vaguely aware of two other people in the distance, their bodies clashing in combat. His shocked instincts told him one of the bodies was Maka, her long black coat slicing through the rain as she ducked and dodged Elizabeth's blows.

Soul tried to move, to get up, but a shock of pain sliced through his body. Blearily, he saw his left leg leaking blood into the puddle he laid in. Reaching down, he gently felt a bump of dislocated bone and winced, tears springing into his eyes. From the difficulty he was having breathing, Soul was pretty sure he'd broken some ribs as well. Gritting his teeth, he began to sit up before a wave of dizziness lapsed through his head and he nearly passed out.

That was then Maka's scream ripped through the air. It was like his instincts has been stricken, assaulting him into overdrive, and he was somehow on his feet. Later, when Soul tried to recall how he made it all the way over to where Elizabeth held Maka up by the throat, one of Elizabeth's overlong fingernails skimming down Maka's cheeks and leaving behind a thin trail of blood, he honestly couldn't remember.

He wasn't aware of much until Elizabeth was sliding off his arm-turned-scythe blade and crumpling to the ground. Maka's body slammed to the ground when Elizabeth's fingers released, and a blinding shock coursed through Soul's body. He crumpled to the ground a moment later, broken leg giving out beneath him.

Consciousness faded and when he awoke, his head was cradled in Maka's lap, her tears sliding down her cheeks and onto his. "Hey," he said breathlessly, when his eyes blearily opened. His fingertips rose and touched the cut on her cheek and her eyes snapped open to meet his.

"Soul!" she shrieked, her grasp on him tightening. He winced at the pressure on his ribs, but didn't care because it felt so good to be held in her arms and he'd been wanting it for so long that it made it worth it.

"Please don't cry, Maka," he said, his voice low.

And she stopped, her green eyes wide as she stared down at him. She looked like she just lost everything and it killed him to see her that way.

"A few days rest and I'll be back to normal," he said, but they both knew he was lying.

Soul smirked then, but it cost him and he began coughing, blood splattering down the front of his shirt and over her hands that tightly gripped his jacket.

Maka's eyes widened. They almost looked dead, and it made Soul's chest constrict in pain. He couldn't stand that look in her eyes. He wanted it gone, gone as soon as possible. Soul wasn't sure what made him do it other than that it was something he'd been thinking, been _wanting_, forever. He knew the timing was awful, him bleeding all over the place with bones sticking out of his skin, but suddenly he wanted it more than anything in his entire life.

Soul's light touch on her cut became his hand cupping the side of her face, pulling her closer to him until their lips touched. Her eyes briefly widened even more before they snapped shut and suddenly she was kissing him back hard, one hand winding its way through his wet hair.

When she pulled back, Soul saw that she looked staggered, but there was a small smile on her face, her eyes softer than they had been only moments before.

Soul's fingers played with the dripping end of one of her pigtails, twirling it around his finger. He felt warm, languid, and he knew he was smiling dopily. "Maybe it isn't all that cool of me to say this right now," he said, voice scarcely above a whisper, so quiet she had to lean forward to hear him over the rain, "but I really love you, Maka."

Maka looked shocked for a split-second before Soul heard voices off somewhere. Her eyes stayed on him and he was still smiling. Then he was fading, the echoes of Maka's screams lingering in his ears as he blacked out.


	2. Black and Blue

A/N: Hey everyone, here's chapter 1. I just want to thank everyone that reviewed, favorited, and alerted the prologue. It really means a lot to me. Um, also, please forgive any errors you come across in this chapter. I really wanted to get it out before the weekend, but I do plan on combing through it more thoroughly and, if I find errors, will promptly correct them! Hope you all have a nice weekend, thanks, and enjoy!

* * *

Long Road to Ruin  
Chapter 1: Black and Blue

Soul was in the hospital a lot longer than he ever expected. Then again, the damage he took from their battle with Elizabeth Bathory was greater than he initially thought. Being flung sixty feet was bad enough, but the worst of the damage was done when Elizabeth's last ditch effort to survive was a shockwave of power that coursed through his body. It did internal damage, causing bleeding in numerous places within his body.

It was lucky one of the people sent to back them up was Stein. If it had been anyone else from Shibusen, someone without the extensive medical knowledge, Soul wouldn't have made it half-way back to the school.

Spirit and Stein had just gotten back from a mission a little while after Maka and Soul left. Worried that Elizabeth Bathory was more than they could handle, Shinigami-sama sent the two after them.

"But we just got back," Spirit had whined. "I want and cheeseburger and a beer."

But when Shinigami-sama told him who had gone and who it was they were after, he was out the door before he even had all the details.

It was Spirit who held Maka as she sobbed into his shirt, the most she'd let her father touch in her in recent memory.

"I was supposed to protect him," Maka had said as she clutched at her father's shirt. "This wasn't supposed to happen again."

Before they left the battlefield, Stein did the best he could to staunch any external bleeding and set Soul's broken leg before they were on the move, racing to get back before, as Stein said, the seizures set in. That meant things were taking a turn for the worst and he wouldn't have long.

Stein used his meager first aid kit to treat Soul as well as he could away from his lab. When there wasn't any more he could do, he treated and bandaged Maka's face, and waited. It was all they could do.

Spirit and Stein quickly debated whether they should take Soul to a local hospital, but it was dismissed. Sure, they would be able to stop the bleeding, but there was no way they would be able to treat the latent damaged caused by Elizabeth's desperate eleventh-hour assault. Stein was one of the few people qualified to do so and, as far as they knew, his lab was the closest place that had the equipment to save Soul's life.

Several times during the ride back to Shibusen, as Spirit pushed the helicopter as fast as he possibly could, Soul came too. He never seemed to be aware of much that was going on around him. Clinical as ever, Stein at one point tried explaining to him what he was doing, but Soul's eyes never left Maka's, and he passed out again half way through the elucidation.

Spirit looked back several times at what was going on behind him. He looked miserably at his daughter's pale, weary face as she looked down at her partner, holding one of his hands in both of her own. While he initially disliked the boy, fearing he would drive a greater wedge between father and daughter, Spirit knew what the loss of her partner and best friend would do to Maka. And even Spirit had to admit that, as evidenced by the boy's current state, he cared for Maka and would do anything to safeguard her.

As a weapon himself, Spirit had to admire Soul. The boy had grit and perseverance and a protective streak a mile wide, even if he sometimes worked to hide it. Spirit now wanted nothing more than for the boy to be okay, to recover, because, during the war with the kishin, Arachne, and Medusa, he knew his daughter was lucky to have a weapon so loyal.

Spirit, if his observational skills were worth a damn, and they were, knew Soul loved his daughter. If he was smart enough to do that, to love Maka, then he was more than alright in Spirit's book.

* * *

When they finally made it back to Shibusen, Soul was immediately rushed to Stein's laboratory. He actually had more medical equipment in his lab than the school's dispensary.

Outside, they'd rushed past Black Star and Tsubaki. Maka saw the way Black Star paled when his eyes land on Soul's prone body held tightly in Spirit's arms. Wordlessly, Maka grabbed Black Star's hand and they followed Stein and her father, Tsubaki trailing behind them.

"What happened?" Black Star asked, his voice gruff, raspy. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and eyes squeezed shut tight. Tsubaki stood next to him, glancing between Black Star and Maka, who was crouched on the ground, arms wrapped tight around her legs.

Once inside the building, Spirit told the kids to wait in the hall while he went to find Nygus to help out. From inside the lab, they could hear the faint hum of a machine. It Maka's mind, it almost sounded like a buzzsaw.

Maka looked up at Black Star, attempting to open her mouth. Rather than words, a strangled gurgle issued forth and she broke down into chest heaving sobs. Tsubaki ran to Maka's side and wrapped her arms around the shaking girl.

Black Star opened his eyes and stared at the two girls in front of him. He regretted asking, knowing it had to be bad if Maka was losing it like she was. Nygus and Spirit came sprinting down the hallway then, right past them, and into the laboratory.

They heard Nygus ask, "What are his stats?" before the door slammed shut. After that, there was silence.

After a while, Black Star crossed the hall and sat on the other side of Maka. He wrapped his arm around the girl. He locked eyes with Tsubaki over Maka's head and he saw his own fears displayed across her face, the fear of losing someone close, of losing a friend.

Abruptly, Maka clutched her stomach and retched in front of her. She spent several minutes dry heaving, while Tsubaki went to the bathroom and returned with a wet rag and several lengths of paper towel. She wordlessly handed the rag to Black Star who placed it on Maka's forehead, and cleaned up the mess before disposing of it in the bathroom. She returned and sat back down on Maka's other side.

They sat like that for an indefinite amount of time before the sound of running footsteps greeted them long before Kid, Liz, Patty, and Crona appeared before them.

"I just heard," Kid said, out of breath. "Soul…is he…?"

"We don't know," Black Star said. "He's in surgery."

"Maka," Crona said, kneeling before the girl, tucking disheveled hair behind Maka's ear.

Kid sat down across from them, his brow furrowed in worried.

"Sissy," Patty said, hanging onto her sister's arm, "what's going on?"

Liz looked ashen. "He have to wait, Patty. Soul is in surgery right now."

Patty frowned, wrapping her arms Liz. "Is Soul going to be okay?"

Liz looked down at her sister, but didn't answer, couldn't bring herself to say the words they were all thinking.

_We don't know._

* * *

Several hours passed before Stein emerged from the lab, Spirit on his heels. In the meantime, Kid had ordered them all food and drinks from a nearby place. Most of them just picked at their food, Maka not touching hers at all. Tsubaki did manage to drink half her soda after several minutes of trying.

Maka stood immediately when they walked out, her eyes wide and hands clutched in front of her chest. Spirit noted the red rims around her eyes, how they were puffy and bloodshot.

"How is he?" she asked, her voice timid. "How is Soul?"

Stein smiled reassuringly at her, resting a hand atop her shoulder. "The worst is over."

The sigh that left her body was visible to all, her slumped shoulders perking up slightly. Spirit walked over and wrapped an arm around his daughter and surprisingly, she leaned into it.

Continuing on, Stein said, "We were able to stop all the internal bleeding and repair the damage in his lungs. His broken leg and ribs have been cared for and the blood transfusion went well.

"What I was most worried about was the shock wave Bathory sent through his body right before she died. I was able to neutralize it, though there may be some side effects from it for some time, such as muscle spasms and numbness. I did see some evidence of shock to her nervous system. Depending on how the next few days go, he'll probably have to go through physical therapy to regain full control over his body.

"But," Stein said, smiling, "he's awake, which is a good sign. He's pretty doped up on pain killers at the moment, but you can go see him."

Maka rushed from her father's side and into the lab. Spotting Soul lying in a bad in the back corner hooked up to a bunch of machines. His eyes seemed to brighten when he saw her. She wanted to fling herself at him, into his arms, but she knew that would do more harm than good. Instead, she grasped his hand, bringing it to her lips and kissing it. His smile widened.

His eyes were glazed from the effects of the pain killers, but he seemed alert. The rest of their friends gathered in around Maka, but Soul barely glanced at them, seeming more at ease than they had for several hours.

"You're so pretty, Maka," Soul said, slurring his words some. He laced his fingers through her and grinned that wide toothy grin of his. "I don't know why I never tell you that, but it's true."

Maka smiled back down at him, wiping a tear away with her free hand. The movement caught Soul's attention and touched the wet trail down her cheek with fascination.

"I'm so glad I finally kissed you," he said. "I've wanted to for a long time now."

Patty giggled, Tsubaki blushed, and Spirit cleared his throat. "I do not need to be hearing this," he muttered.

The sound brought Soul's attention to Spirit. His eyes widened. "Whoa, Spirit, did you know your head is on fire?" He watched the bright red flames flicker around Spirit's head with amusement.

Patty guffawed, pointing at Spirit's head. "It does look like it's on fire, Sissy!"

Stein chuckled. "Ah yes, there is a trace of hallucinogen in the pain killers I gave him."

"So what's Patty's excuse?" Liz asked, a bit embarrassed that Patty would say something like that to such a high-raking weapon, and a Deathscythe at that.

It wasn't long before Stein ushered them all from the lab, informing them that Soul needed to rest. Before Maka left, Soul had attempted to pull her to him for a kiss but, realized what he was doing, Maka laid a kiss atop his head. Her face was flushed when she pulled away and her father refused to quite meet her eyes when she looked at him.

"We should report to Shinigami-sama now, Maka," Spirit said, leading her from the room. She nodded, throwing one last look at Soul, before allowing herself to be ushered from the room.

"Can they all come with me, Papa?" Maka asked, pointing at her friends. "I think they want to know what happened and it might be easier for me to give the report with them there."

Smiling down at his daughter, Spirit said, "That's fine with me."

"Oh, are we having a party?" Shinigami-sama asked when the all walked into the room. He clapped his hands together.

"No Father," Kid said, smiling at his father.

"So how is Soul doing? I heard he was injured."

"Soul has a long journey ahead of him," Spirit said, "but he'll be fine. Actually, Maka's here to give her report," Spirit said. He ushered Maka forward so she could sit across from Shinigami-sama at his table.

Her father and friends gathered around her, Tsubaki laying a reassuring hand on Maka's shoulder.

"Whenever you're ready, Maka."

* * *

They had arrived at the small Argentine village around two in the afternoon. It didn't take long before one of the villagers pointed them to a dilapidated mansion built by a wealthy plantation owner after the country became colonized by the Spanish. The villager, a middle-aged woman with long black hair streaked with white, told them of the whispers of a phantom haunting the property, snatching away their children in the dead of night. She said that they would find the girls' bodies in ditches and behind buildings, their throats and wrists slit and bodies drained of blood.

No one was sure how the girls kept going missing. There was never any evidence of break-ins, no broken locks or windows. There girls were there when they went to bed at night but just gone when their families woke up in the morning. One man even sat up all night staring the door with a rifle in his hand, but both his daughters were gone the next morning, their bedroom window still nail shut from the inside.

As the approached, they saw that the property was overrun by trees and weeds and ramshackle garden sheds. Windows were broken and the house seemed to be nearly stripped of paint from age. The fancy woodwork was weathered into or broken nubs and the front porch was more sunken to the ground than not. Graffiti covered much of the ground floor of the mansion, lewd words and pictures sprawled across. It made Maka mutter under her breath and even Soul had to frown at the juvenility of it all.

The plan was to sneak into the mansion and corner Elizabeth Bathory so she had less a chance of escape. They would corner and then do battle and afterwards, Soul would gulp down her soul and they would be one closer to their ninety- nine soul requisite. Sure, it wasn't much of a plan really, but it was the best they had and they tended to work better when they just winged it anyway.

Elizabeth must have had traps set up to warn her of intruders because she was on them even before they made it half way across the back yard. The sky erupted then, torrential rains falling down upon them. Lightning zipped across the sky above them, followed almost instantaneously by crashing booms of thunder. Briefly, Maka wondered if the weather was Elizabeth's doing as the sky had been blue and sunny only minutes before.

Soul transformed into his scythe mode, and Maka caught, quickly taking a fighting stance before the enemy.

"So," Elizabeth said, "more from Shibusen have come to try and kill me. How utterly predictable."

What surprised Maka was not that Elizabeth knew where they came from, but Elizabeth herself. She looked hardly older than fourteen, around Maka's height. She was thin, her skin a medium brown, hair long, straight, and black and it became drenched with rainwater. Her voice was that of an Argentinian, nothing like the European woman Maka was expecting.

"You're Elizabeth Bathory?" Maka asked, eyes narrowing.

She laughed then, bringing her slim hand to her mouth. "More or less," she said. "Or, as they like to say in these parts, _mas o menos._" She laughed again.

"You mean you world renowned meisters and weapons from Shibusen _still_ haven't figured it out?"

Maka didn't answer, simply narrowing her eyes further.

Elizabeth chuckled, running fingers through her hair. "I guess you haven't," she said humorlessly. "I've just gotten a new batch and you're about to die, so it wouldn't do any harm if I showed you."

She grabbed what looked like a pitcher from atop a nearby stone table. She began to raise the pitcher above her head. "It's simple really. A simple slash into the soft skin of a girl, and I collect the blood. It isn't any more difficult than that." She laughed again, but this time it sounded more like a cackle.

When the pitcher was raised high above her head, Elizabeth tipped it. Dark, thick red blood surged from the pitcher onto her head, drenching her. The blood plastered her hair and dress to her body. When Elizabeth opened her eyes, it looked like two pits lying in a black void.

Maka felt her stomach quicken and she hoped she could keep her lunch down. She could smell the blood from where she stood.

"What the hell?" Soul asked, his face gleaming across the blade of the weapon. "What is she doing?"

"I don't know," Maka said in a low voice, her eyes never leaving Elizabeth.

The blood began running down her body to pool at her feet. As the rain washed more of it away, Maka jumped with a start. The face staring back at her was not the face she had seen only moments before. This one staring back at her was a few years older, dark eyes staring vivaciously back. Maka watched as her breasts grew, her hips widened and waist narrowed, and Elizabeth sprouted up several inches.

"See," Elizabeth said, stepping towards them, "it's so simple. It's how I've managed to hide for so long. I can look like anyone I want. I just need their blood."

Maka felt the revulsion, the horror, building inside her. It festered until she couldn't think, could hardly breathe. Before she knew what she was doing, Maka was running towards her, scythe raised high.

Maka brought it down. Elizabeth raised her arm, knocking the blow from where it would have struck her in the chest. It left a long stripe of blood down the length of her forearm. Maka raised Soul again and this time Elizabeth jumped back just in time. It wasn't long before she was covered in cuts and gashes. Her eyes looked terrified and Maka was glad of it. She wanted this woman who had done so much damage to pay for her crimes. She had been human at once, but that was a long time ago, each sin adding up. Surely, if left to her own devices, Elizabeth Bathory would one day become a kishin. It was almost amazing that she hadn't already become one.

That was when Elizabeth grabbed the handle of the scythe just as Maka was about to swing it. her grip was tight and she was strong, stronger than she looked. She sucker-punched Maka in the stomach. The next thing Maka knew, Soul was wrenched from her hands and she was being gripped tight by the neck, nails digging into Maka's throat.

"You know," Elizabeth said, looking up at Maka with a bemused expression, "you're really a pretty girl. I bet you drive all sorts of boys wild. Like that partner of yours over there."

She jerked her head in the general direction of where Soul lay on the ground. "I think I could use you. Drag you off and slit your throat open while your partner's still sawing logs. I use your blood, transform into you, and then while I'm back at Shibusen learning it up, I take out my biggest threat from the inside."

Elizabeth grinned up at her. Using her free hand, she ran her fingers through one of Maka's pigtails. "It's been a while since I've been a blonde," she said.

The grip Elizabeth had on Maka's throat began to tighten. Maka screamed before Elizabeth's hand squeezed and cut it off. The rain began coming down harder, hard enough that Maka had to strain her ears and still couldn't hear what Elizabeth was saying.

And then Maka was landing in a puddle on her butt. Elizabeth loomed over her, eyes widening before she screamed and fell to the ground. Soul stood there for a moment, arm a scythe blade, before he collapsed on the ground.

* * *

"Thank you for sharing that, Maka," Shinigami-sama said.

Maka nodded, feeling the tight grip of her father's hand on her shoulder. It was reassuring actually. Since the battle with the kishin, Maka and Spirit had been forming a tentative relationship. About once a week at least, they would try to get together for dinner. They were extremely awkward at first, but as the weeks passed, they became easier and easier. Sometimes, Soul came with them or some of Maka's other friends. Once even Stein and Marie had crashed a dinner. Spirit liked getting to know the people Maka held most dear to her.

They didn't usually talked about Maka's mother since it was still a sore subject for both of them, but overall, Spirit liked the way things were going. Even if it wasn't exactly Maka's business, he'd stopped going to the bars and had taken to drinking his alcohol in front of the television with a bowl of potato chips on his laps. Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it made him feel better and that's what counted, right?

As they left Shinigami-sama, Maka looked up at her dad where he walked next to her, and asked, "Is it okay if I stay with you tonight, Papa? I don't want to be at home tonight, not when Soul's not there."

Spirit's face softened. "Of course, Maka. You're always welcome to my home. Anytime you want."

Maka smiled back. "Thanks, Papa."

When they arrived back at Spirits apartment, he ushered his daughter into a seat and set about making them some dinner. They ate the chicken and rice in silence. Afterwards, when they were each nursing cups of tea, he leaned forward and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what, Papa?" Maka asked, pouring more tea into her cup. They were once that they'd had since she was a little girl and she'd always loved them for the delicate purple flowers and graced the porcelain. While there used to be an entire set of them, there were few of the cups left because of her clumsiness as a child.

Maka eyed the lilacs and sighed.

"Maka, you went through a lot today. You almost _died,_ you almost lost your partner. You helped take down one of the worst villains on the planet. You have to be feeling something." Spirit's voice was full of concern.

"That was Soul."

He frowned at his daughter. "What's that?"

"That was Soul. That took down Elizabeth Bathory. Before that, she was just toying with us." Maka sighed again, stretching. "Papa, I just got down talking about it all with Shinigami-sama. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Spirit nodded. "I understand. I do have a question for you though."

"What is it, Papa?"

Looking right at her, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "So what's going on between you and Soul?"

Instantaneously, Maka's face turned crimson. "What do you mean?"

Spirit laughed, he couldn't help it. His daughter just looked so cute when she was embarrassed. "C'mon Maka, I wasn't born yesterday. Papa knows a thing or two, believe it or not."

She remained quiet, picking at her cuticles.

"Throw your Papa a bone, would you? He tried to kiss you when you left earlier."

"Um," Maka said, clearing her throat, "well, right after he killed Elizabeth Bathory, I was checking on him, and…we kissed. And then he told me he loved me, Papa." Her face remained flushed.

Taking a sip of his tea, Spirit asked, "How do you feel about him?" Maka's face, if possible, deepened in color. Inwardly, he groaned.

Spirit couldn't say that he hadn't seen this coming. It was bound to happen one day, even if Soul hadn't been the one. His daughter was beautiful and smart and kind. He'd just hoped it would be a few more years before he'd have to deal with this.

After she remained silent for a long time, he laced his hands together and looked hard at her. "I understand, Maka, believe me, I do. You care for him, and that's okay. I hate to say it, but he's probably going to need you now. According to Stein, Soul will probably have a long road ahead of him full of rehabilitation and physical therapy. There's a chance he'll have to relearn to do a lot of things. Stein didn't say it before, but he told me that Soul's entire nervous system got scrambled.

"The two of you will have to relearn to fight together, Maka."


	3. Rehab

A/N: So this took a lot longer for me to get up than I'd hoped. Forgive me! :)

* * *

Long Road to Ruin  
Chapter 2: Rehab

Summary: After a brutal fight that leaves Soul badly injured, meister and weapon must find a way to rebuild together. Soul/Maka  
Rated: M

* * *

Maka woke with a jerk, sitting up as her sweat-soaked bangs clung to her face. She was breathing hard and she could feel the ache from yesterday's fight in her body. When she glanced at her watch, she saw that it was barely after five. Her sleep throughout the night had been tenuous; just when she fell into a deep sleep, her nightmares startled her back into consciousness.

Over and over again throughout the night, Maka saw Soul's body collapse into the pool of blood at his feet. Saw Elizabeth's bloody face grinning at her, her hand flinging Soul dozens of feet away.

Each time Maka thought she was finally falling into a decent sleep, she would always wake back up with those horrible images planted into her mind like a brand. When she finally woke up around five, she was tired of those dreams, tired of falling asleep only to be jolted back awake.

Sighing, she pushed the covers off and neatly folded them, placing them at the end of the couch on top of the pillow she had borrowed from her father. Spirit had insisted she take his room, but she'd declined, not really wanting to know what had gone on in there. Not that, she was realizing, that it was any of her business, but still. Boundaries.

After going to the bathroom, Maka jotted down a quick note for her father in case he woke up anytime soon, and slipped out of Spirit's apartment.

By the time Maka reached her and Soul's apartment, the sun was just beginning to peak over the tops of Death City's buildings. Squinting as she walked, Maka made her way into their apartment building. Pulling her keys from her jacket pocket, she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Of course she had been in the apartment without Soul before, but this time was different. Then, she'd always known when Soul would be home, walking through the door with a lazy grin, asking whose turn it was to make dinner that night.

But now, now the future was uncertain. Maka didn't know when Soul would be getting home from the hospital, when he would be able to fight again, or if he would even be able to. From what Stein and her father said, it seemed as if it would take a lot for Soul to get back to the point he was at before.

Maka knew she'd be there for every step of the way, would do anything she could to help Soul in any way she could, but it was the uncertainty that frightened her. No one could know what was to come next, but it didn't stop Maka from worrying over it. While in the shower, she broke down, clutching her stomach while her body shook with sobs. The crying subsided and she saw the bruises running down her arms and legs and began to cry again, knowing how much worse Soul's injuries were.

She wished that it had been her to endure Soul's injuries. It destroyed her that she had, yet again, been unable to protect him the way he always protected her. After Soul was rehabilitated (and she told herself that she would do anything she could to make sure that happened), they would train together and grow as a pair.

But in the meantime, whenever she had the time, Maka would train herself building her endurance, her strength, her mind. Sure, she had defeated the kishin but what did that mean now that Soul was once again in the hospital with his life on the line?

Drying herself off, Maka made her way to her room and dressed herself in clean clothes. As she brushed her hair in front of the mirror, Maka frowned at her reflection. Her eyes were swollen and red and her face blotchy. Normally, it wouldn't bother her that much, but she was going to visit Soul soon and she didn't want him to see her that way. It would only make him feel worse, and she would do anything to prevent that.

Dropping some ice into a baggie, Maka held them to her eyes for a few minutes. When she felt she couldn't wait any longer, she dumped the ice down the sink and grabbed her small make-up bag from her room. She didn't usually wear much make-up if any, but did what she could to fix up her face. Her hands shook as she applied eyeliner, and at one point she had to wipe it off and start again.

From the corner of her eye, Maka saw Blair walk into her room, pausing halfway to stretch. "Maaa-kaaa," she said, drawing the girl's name out. Maka turned to look at her, and Blair took the opportunity to jump up on her lap, looking up at her. "You're putting on make-up, Maka. You almost never do that."

Blair squinted her eyes before looking taken aback. "You and Soul didn't come home last night after your mission. What happened?"

Maka petted the top of her head absently. She didn't really want to launch into the story of what had happened yet again, but she knew Blair cared about them and was now worried. Maka gave her the overview.

"How is Soul doing?" she asked hurriedly. Since Maka had known her, Blair didn't seem to worry too much about things, but she was worried now.

"He's in the hospital. I was actually just about to leave to go visit him. Would you like to come too?"

Granted, there were times that Blair embarrassed Maka, particularly when she transformed into her human form and made Soul, and whatever other male was around, bleed profusely from the nose, but Maka cared for her and knew her to be a good companion. She nodded. "Of course you can, Blair."

"Nya!" Blair said, pleased. She leaped off Maka's lap and transformed back into a human, standing in Maka's room wearing little. "Thank you, Maka!" she said before dashing from the room to go get ready.

Before leaving, she filled a bag with some of Soul's things, clothes and toiletries and his mp3 player. She even slipped a few novels into the bag in the hopes that Soul might entertain himself with them while she wasn't there.

Maka was happy to see that Blair dressed herself in clothes appropriate for a hospital, jeans and a casual white blouse with sequins sewn around the neck. It looked quite pretty against the purple hair and curled about her shoulders.

"You ready?" Maka asked. When Blair nodded, Maka turned and locked the apartment behind them.

Together, they walked to a café near Stein's lab and picked up a box of donuts and tray of coffees. Blair had insisted on extra, extra cream in hers, giving the man behind the counter a wink as he bashfully took their order.

Stein answered when Maka knocked, smiling at the two girls like he'd been expecting them. Ushering them inside, Maka saw Soul sitting up in bed, staring off into space. But he seemed to snap to attention when she walked in.

"Maka," he said with a smile as she approached. Blair transformed back into a cat and leap onto Soul's lap. He raised his hand to pet her as she purred on his lap, but never took his eyes off of Maka.

Maka approached, handing over a coffee and setting the package of donuts on the table next to him. "You brought me food," Soul said happily.

Maka saw, by his droopy grin, he was still quite high on pain pills.

"I did," she said, forcing a smile. Really, she just wanted to break down again. He wasn't wearing a shirt and Maka could see his chest wrapped tightly, his old scar from Ragnarok peeking through. His leg was also encased in a thick white cast, bandages were taped over dozens of cuts, and bruises littered his skin. He was still hooked up to machines, tubes sticking out of the veins in the back of his hand.

Soul looked like a mess, but somehow his spirits seemed to be high, though that may have been contributed to the medicine pumps he was hooked up to.

Maka handed Stein a coffee and gave him his selection of donuts, before she turned her attention back to Soul. He devoured three donuts, often missing his mouth and jamming the pastry into his chin or cheek, before turning his attention to his coffee, spilling almost half of it on his bandages. Luckily, the coffee was cool enough by that point not to burn him, though Stein wasn't happy about having to put clean bandages back on him again so soon..

"Hungry?" a voice asked from somewhere behind Maka. She turned and saw Black Star leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. He strutted forward, snatched a cruller from the box, and sat at the foot of Soul's bed.

"Hey, Black Star," Soul said, smirking at his friend. He stretched his fist out and Black Star bumped it, smirking back. "What brings you to these parts?"

"I heard some evil, bloody bitch chewed you up and spat you back out. I _had_ to see if it made you any better looking because you sure couldn't get any worse."

"Always the charmer, aren't you?" Soul replied with mirth.

"Someone has to be because it sure as hell isn't you."

Maka rolled her eyes, but with affection. She knew that, as stupid as it was, this was Black Star's way of coping with what had happened to his best friend. Black Star was a lot to handle at times, but he really cared about his friends and never wanted to see them hurt.

Over the next hour or so, the rest of their friends straggled in to the lab, bringing up chairs around Soul's bed or taking over the empty bed next to his. Word of Soul's injuries must have spread throughout the school as some of the other students from their class showed up throughout the day. Killik and the twins stopped by for almost two hours, bringing with them a bag of candy that Stein told Soul he couldn't eat after having so many donuts. Uncharacteristically, because it wasn't considered cool, Soul had pouted a bit at being denied the candy.

Ox, Kim and Jackie showed up at one point as well, offering their condolences. Though, given the way Ox spent the entire time looking at Kim like a lovesick puppy, Maka surmised he only decided to visit after encountering the girls on their way to the lab. Regardless, Maka was just happy that so many people cared about Soul to show up, concerned about his well-being. Even Marie, Azusa, and Justin stopped in throughout the day, Justin taking his headphones off long enough to snyc up some of own music to Soul's mp3 player.

Over the course of the day, Maka noticed that Soul hardly moved. Even as the rest of them sat around playing cards, Soul declined, seemingly content to just sit there and watch as his friends taunted each other. He'd smiled passively when Kid, who'd ultimately come out the champion of their rummy tournament, forfeited his win because his points totaled an odd number. Maka suspected that Soul's declination of playing was contributed to his inability to use his hands correctly. Maka was one thing, but he didn't want the rest of his friends to see him so helpless.

By the time evening rolled around, their friends had all taken their leave and only Maka remained behind. Stein had even stepped out for a while, but not before administering another dose of pain killers into Soul's system.

"Have you ever noticed how small the arms of a T-Rex are? They're puny!" Soul said, bending his arms at the elbow and holding them close to his body, imitating one. It was the first time he'd been able to move freely without a lot of effort. Maka suspected that it might have something to do with the fresh dose of painkillers administered into his system. "Why do you think that is, Maka?"

Overcome with laughter and momentarily forgetting her concerns, Maka only managed to giggle out an, "I don't know, Soul," before breaking into another fit.

Soul's face became serious, voice sorrowful. "I think it's because they stopped hugging each other, Maka. They stopped hugging each other and evolution took over and soon their arms became short."

"You might just be onto something, Soul," Maka said with a small smile.

"Will you hug me, Maka? I don't want to end up like a T-Rex." He looked really worried as if it was actually a possibility.

"Okay, Soul," Maka said, leaning forward to wrap her arms gingerly around Soul, resting her cheek against his. She felt his arms shakingly go around her, the tube from his iv brushing against her arm. When she began to pull back, Soul inclined his body towards her, brushing his lips against hers.

Gingerly, Maka found herself kissing him back. She wanted it, wanted to kiss him but she didn't want to stress out his already damaged body. After a moment, she pulled back again and he relented, a goofy grin on his face.

"Thank you, Maka," he said quietly, before adding, almost as an afterthought, "I like you so much."

Maka could feel the blush rise on her cheeks. "Sometime when you're not all drugged up, we'll talk about us, okay?"

Soul nodded, clearly content for the time being.

Maka found herself unsure of what to do under Soul's gaze. Sure, he was out of it, but she still felt nervous with his eyes gazing at her so earnestly. "How about I read to you for a little while? Would you like that, Soul?"

Settling down into his pillows, Soul nodded, and Maka grabbed one of the books from the bag she brought with her. Cracking the book open, she flipped through the pages until she found the first one. Resting the book on her lap, she began to read.

Maka was barely a paragraph in when she heard Soul mumble, "You have such a pretty voice."

Feeling herself flush again, Maka raised her eyes to him and smiled slightly before continuing on. By the time Maka reached the end of the second chapter, she saw that Soul was asleep, snoring lightly. She used a scrap of paper to mark her place and laid the book on the nightstand next to Soul's bed.

She placed a small kiss atop his forehead before gathering her things and leaving. When Maka reached the hallway, she saw her father leaning against the wall, apparently waiting for her.

"Hi, Papa," she said.

Spirit smiled down at her, glad that she seemed to be in much better spirits today than she had been the day before. "How's Soul doing?" he asked, falling into step next to his daughter.

"He's a little out of it because of the drugs," she admitted, "but he seems to be doing better. I know he'd be in a lot of pain without the medicine though."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said, wrapping an arm around Maka's shoulders.

"What were you doing out here, Papa?"

"I was going to come to visit, but I heard you talking and didn't want to interrupt," he said, a bit embarrassed. He was still new to the idea that his daughter might soon start dating her weapon.

"Oh, I was just reading to Soul, but he fell asleep."

Despite the fact that Soul was in the hospital and probably wasn't feeling up to much of anything, it reassured Spirit to hear it. He was still having a hard time with Maka potentially dating, even after seeing her kiss Soul yesterday on the battlefield before the boy lost consciousness.

"Would you like to go grab some dinner?"

"You paying?" Maka asked, but she was smiling. It was strange, but she was coming to trust her dad again, and in some ways it really scared her. And as much as Maka loved and respected her mother, she did have to admit that her father was the one that had always been there for her, even if he had his terrible vices, which didn't seem as bad as they'd used to be.

Spirit grinned. "Of course I am, Maka."

* * *

Soul stayed in the hospital for nearly two weeks. Most of the time, it was so Stein could keep an eye on the boy, monitoring his progress. Stein had never seen a case quite like Soul's, particularly the last ditch aftershock Elizabeth Bathory had sent through his system. He didn't get this way often, but he felt concerned and still couldn't predict the lasting effects it might have on the boy.

On the third day, Stein began Soul on physical therapy. He'd waited until Maka came by before he set the box of what appeared to children's toys on a tray in his lap.

"What am I supposed to do?" Soul asked, slurring his words some.

Pulling out a yellow box with various shaped cut-outs in it, Stein said simply, "Fill the box with the toys."

Maka saw Soul's face freeze, knowing that if he hadn't been injured, that one of his eyebrow would have raised high into his forehead. "You want me to play with this?"

Stein chuckled. "While I don't think you'll get quite the same thrill out of it a toddler would, essentially yes, I want you to play with it." Stein walked off, saying over his shoulder, "Let me know when you finish it."

"You actually think it's going to take that long?"

"Just let me know when you're done, alright?"

Soul groaned, muttering how uncool it was to play with baby toys.

"Soul," Maka said, standing next to him with her hands on her hips, "don't be that way. If Stein thinks this will help regain full use of your body, then you're going to do it. Got it?"

He glowered up at her, his crimson eyes narrowed. Gingerly, he reached for the first shape, a blue pyramid. His fingers closed around it like a clenched claw, fitting awkwardly over the pyramid. Soul raised his arm to yellow box and attempted to fit the shape into the corresponding hole.

When it didn't go in, Soul attempted to rotate his wrist enough to line up the shape with the hole. Grunting, he tried again with no more success. After several more moments of struggle, Soul finally managed to fit the piece into the hole.

Maka saw that his forehead had broken out into a sweat and that his arms were shaking more than they had been. Reaching for the next piece, a cylinder, he tried again, having much more success with this one. The third shape, a star, proved much more difficult. He made several attempts, unable to get the right angle to fit the shape through. After nearly three minutes of trying, face steadily growing redder, he flung the shape, sweeping the toys off the tray with a taut arm and a frustrated scream.

"Soul! What'd you do that for?" Maka said angrily. It wasn't often she saw Soul become so frustrated, and she'd never seen him quite like this in all the years she'd known him, lived with him, fought with him.

He didn't say anything, just staring into space. Maka knew he was in pain. Stein confirmed Maka's suspicians when he'd said that he wouldn't be allowed to take any pain killers because it would null the results of the therapy. She felt bad, she felt helpless because there was nothing she could really do but pick of the pieces and let him try again.


End file.
